Pa. girl, 10, goes home after 2 lung transplants

Sarah Murnaghan, Fran Murnaghan, Janet Murnaghan

FILE - In this May 30, 2013 file photo provided by the Murnaghan family, Sarah Murnaghan, center, celebrates the 100th day of her stay in Children's Hospital of Philadelphia with her father, Fran, left, and mother, Janet. The 10-year-old suburban Philadelphia girl received a lung transplant there Wednesday, June 12, 2013, her family said. (AP Photo/Murnaghan Family, File)

AP

RON TODT, Associated Press

Published: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 at 11:51 a.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 at 11:51 a.m.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A 10-year-old Pennsylvania girl whose need for new lungs sparked a national debate on how donor organs are prioritized is back at home after six months in the hospital.

A family spokeswoman says Sarah Murnaghan was discharged Tuesday from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. She later was carried into her family's Newtown Square home, where the entrance was festooned with balloons and bore a big sign saying "Welcome Home, Sarah!"

Sarah received two sets of lungs this summer as she struggles with the effects of end-stage cystic fibrosis. The operations came after a federal judge intervened in her parents' lawsuit challenging national transplant rules that put her at the end of the waiting list for adult lungs.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

The six-month hospitalization of a 10-year-old Pennsylvania girl whose need for new lungs sparked a national debate on how transplant recipients are prioritized has come to an end.

Sarah Murnaghan's mother has posted a message on Facebook saying she would be going home on Tuesday from the Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania.

Sarah received two sets of lungs this summer as she struggles with the effects of end-stage cystic fibrosis.

Her mother, Janet Murnaghan, said in a Facebook post late Monday that she and her daughter had "cried tears of joy."

"We entered CHOP on Feb. 19, more than six months ago. I never could have imagined the journey that lay in front of us," Murnaghan wrote in the post, thanking God, Sarah's donors and all those who supported the family. She said she plans to speak with reporters on Tuesday.

Sarah received the two lung transplants after a federal judge intervened in her parents' lawsuit challenging national transplant rules that put her at the end of the waiting list for adult lungs.

The news capped days of upbeat progress reports from the Newtown Square family.

On Sunday, Murnaghan said her daughter was taken off oxygen, although she still gets support from a machine that helps her to breathe, and had started to walk with the aid of a walker, even venturing outside.

"My sister pointed out that today is our Mom's birthday — she died 11 years ago," Murnaghan wrote Saturday on her Facebook page. "And today is the first day Sarah has not needed any supplemental oxygen. Miracles from heaven!!!"

Family spokeswoman Tracy Simon said Sarah's recovery is now focused on building her muscle strength so she no longer has to use a breathing tube. She said Sarah recovered from a case of pneumonia that stemmed from the tube.

Sarah's first set of adult lungs failed after a June 12 transplant. A second set was transplanted three days later.

Her parents sued to change a national transplant policy that put her at the bottom of the adult list for patients 12 and older. After the federal judge intervened, the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network — the private nonprofit group that manages U.S. organ allocation — added Sarah to the adult list.

The case raised questions among some health specialists and medical ethicists about how organ donation rules are developed and under what circumstances they might be disregarded.

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